Diagnosing and treating cardiac disorders often involve the introduction of a catheter into a cardiac chamber through the surrounding vasculature. The catheter has a plurality of sensors, located on the catheter's distal end. Information received from the plurality of sensors, including the position of the plurality of sensors and electrical signals associated with each position, can be used to generate and display an approximate anatomical shell of the cardiac chamber. In some instances, the anatomical shell can include representations of features of the electrical signals associated with each position. The anatomical shell can be used by a physician or other medical professional for treating cardiac disorders.
One consideration of anatomical shell construction is how close the shape of the anatomical shell is to the actual shape of the cardiac tissue. While anatomical shell construction using a catheter having a plurality of sensors may provide a fair approximation of the cardiac tissue, there often may be various issues associated with it. One issue is “under-contact,” in which some points of the constructed anatomical shell are a significant distance from the actual tissue. Another issue is “over-contact,” in which the catheter operator has exerted too much force during a portion of the reconstruction phase and pushes the cardiac tissue outwards resulting in shapes that constitute an exaggerate representation of the cardiac chamber. Even another issue is “webbing,” in which small, sharp features of the cardiac chamber do not appear on the anatomical shell. This problem may be exacerbated by the catheter's rigidity.